Freefall
by Monika Forest
Summary: Cornelia was falling. She was falling into an unwelcoming world, where she would, for the first time, have to take a life. Little did she know that, even before what she would come to call The Fall, Lore had already claimed her. The only ledge to rest of are those mesmerising golden eyes, but in time she finds herself falling for those too.


Cornelia was falling.

Around her, it felt like the Void. She could scream, but no sound would echo in the eternal darkness that swallowed her ever further into itself. She almost didn't feel like she was moving, but rather floating ... nowhere. For a second, she wondered if she would be stuck there forever, suspended in blackness, never able to hear another speak.

She reached out, to touch the darkness, only to see her fingers pass through it. Her hand was engulfed in a warm stream, and she smiled. It almost felt like poking a finger into a hot current of water when everything around seemed so utterly cold. It was pleasant, and it calmed her mind. So much, even, that she dared to close her eyes and relax her muscles. She felt perfect then, tranquil like never before, and she told herself that if this is how she was to fall for an eternity, she might just not mind her foolish fate.

But the peace was not meant to be. Not for Cornelia. In fact, she would often look back to this moment and think about, no, crave the feeling of complete isolation again.

For now, she was torn away. As quickly as her body had initially tumbled into the portal, it was now churned out and towards a gray light at the end of the tunnel. The darkness around her shimmered, starting to close in on her, and Cornelia realized a fraction of a second too late. Her fingertips still lingered in the space between time and place when the portal mercilessly spat her out onto hard ground. A wail of pain tore itself from her throat, her intact arm pressing the hurt appendage to her chest, and the screams turned into garbled nonsense, swearwords and silent pleas that Cornelia just barely managed to choke out through her tears.

Her incoherent pleas, however, did not fall on deaf ears. Through her own voice, she could barely hear the soft pitter-patter of feet on the stone, but hear them she did. Gathering what strength she had, Cornelia raised her head, hopeful to find help, but only to let out a horrified screech at the beast that she saw before her.

Growing out of a body of a giant spider was the torso of a man, complete with a face of pure black, the only distinguishable features two glowing white eyes and a broad, bloodthirsty grin. A black scythe, edges dyed green with venom, descended onto Cornelia, and landed just inches away from her petrified face. Involuntarily, her body twitched away from the blade, which probably saved her life, as the unexpected movement sent her tumbling down the little hill she had landed on. Her body was stopped, and not entirely too gently, by a brick wall. By now, she had no strength to spare on making her pain heard. Biting hard into her cheek, she pushed herself to her feet, both hands clawing at the wall for balance.

Her legs shook and threatened to slip out from beneath her, but she forced them to run. Not looking where, or if there was anyone chasing her, she just ran, as fast as the tears that still couldn't stop falling. She had just…

A dead end. Cornelis pressed both palms against the cool stone, hoping that they would pass through, like they did through the darkness, praying that this was a twisted joke, an illusion. But the wall didn't budge even as she pressed herself fully against it. Instead, grunts came from the other end of the ally that she had unknowingly cornered herself in.

Fearing, she turned to face the music, looking straight into three pairs of glowing eyes. _Please no…_ Her mind echoed the plea, her mouth too stiff from fear to repeat it. Shaky hands grabbed a dagger, rusted and old, from her belt and held it out in front of her. She took a deep breath and readied herself for battle, when a purple glow lit up the alley. Cornelia closed her eyes to guard from the blinding light that now assaulted her senses, and when she opened them again, the spiders were arranged into a neat pile, their legs in another. Next to the dismembered limbs stood a young man, golden eyes trained on Cornelia and purple blades aglow on his hands. His face seemed stoic, fixed into an expression that said nothing to the fearful girl.

"Hello," the man spoke up, only to survey Cornelia raising the dagger higher, the blade shaking visibly. "I do not wish to harm you," he continued, but nothing changed in the stance of the girl. His eyes then fell onto the missing fingers. "You're hurt… Let me help you."

"N-No…" Cornelia mumbled. "Leave me alone- G-Get away-" she couldn't finish, as the purple cloud shot towards her, and in less than a second, the man was standing in front of her. His fist connected roughly with her stomach, and darkness came.

…

Tomix sighed, heaving the unconscious body of the girl over his shoulder. "This is not what I meant," he said, glancing up at the rocky ceiling, "when I told you I was lonely."


End file.
